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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27789697">Database</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfowlgirl/pseuds/Elfy'>Elfy (elfowlgirl)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links (Video Game), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime &amp; Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Artificial Intelligence, Canon - Manga, Character Study, Duel Links, Gen, Post-Canon, Virtual Reality, post dsod</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 14:23:39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,889</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27789697</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/elfowlgirl/pseuds/Elfy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Ryou Bakura enters the world of Duel Links, he finds the last person he expected.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>20</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Database</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I've never written a yugioh fic before wheeeeeeee</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The sky above Ryou Bakura was perfect -- <em> too </em> perfect. So wide and blue and endlessly beautiful. It unnerved him.</p><p>This <em> world </em>was too perfect. Too idyllic. The leaves on the trees rustled gently in the breeze but never looked close to falling. The brick path beneath his feet was worn just enough from use that it seemed like it had been there forever, but would never be in need of repair. Even the Duel Monsters, which were what unsettled him the most; the way they moved idly on the field, shoulders heaving with breath, light reflecting off skin or scales, with spurts of authentic flame that warmed the air around them as it shot towards their opponent. They shouldn’t have been real. Couldn’t. Everything about them screamed with reality and life.</p><p>As much as it intrigued Ryou, it reminded him uncomfortably of a Shadow Game. This “Duel Links”... what kind of world had Kaiba built with it?</p><p>Yugi had invited him on more than one occasion to join him and the rest of his friends in the game, but Ryou had politely declined because he didn’t have the equipment required yet. He didn’t care if it sounded too much like an excuse, it was the truth.</p><p>“I’m sure Kaiba would give you a discount or something if you asked,” Jonouchi waved a hand absentmindedly in the air. “It’s the least he can do after all he -- OW!”</p><p>Anzu’s glare shifted easily back into a smile as she looked at Ryou, playing off the fact she had just elbowed Jonouchi in the ribs. “Take your time, Bakura. But, you should know I’m having a really good time, and you know I’m not much of a duelist. Whenever you pick it up, I’d love to play against you.”</p><p>Ryou bobbed his head. “Sure. Thanks.”</p><p>Even ignoring his lack of funds, even with the time that had passed since the Pharaoh’s departure, since graduation -- since <em> Diva </em>-- some part of him was afraid to duel again. It was the part that remembered collapsing on the blimp, scared and confused, staring into the eyes of a red-winged god. The part who hadn’t freely touched his deck since before Battle City, leaving the actual playing of the game in the hands of his other.</p><p>Even then, so much of him wanted to play the game again -- the game as it was meant to be played, surrounded by friends and having a good time, not the twisted version that put people in comas and where every draw and life point decided the fate of the world.</p><p>He’d logged in to Duel Links three times now, and never once had actually dueled. Ryou enjoyed watching other people go at it with cards he didn’t recognize, learning the ever-flowing meta as the battles unfolded. He took note of strategies and cards that interested him, for a day when he eventually replaced the game’s starter deck with something more personalized. Still, he felt no desire to play the game the same way he knew Yugi and Jonouchi did; he was content to stand on the sidelines for the time being and soak up the excitement around him. It was relaxing in a way he didn’t understand, and he felt no desire to complain. It was peaceful.</p><p>When he wasn’t watching duels or people watching he wandered. The streets were wide and long, giving plenty of space. It was late and there were fewer duelists out and about, leaving Ryou lost in his thoughts and only realizing that he had bumped into someone when his tailbone hit the ground with a surprisingly painless <em> thump. </em></p><p>(He was relatively certain that the game’s low pain receptors were only the result of Kaiba wanting to avoid unnecessary lawsuits -- Kaiba did not seem the sort who coddled his players in that respect. Not that Ryou could ask.)</p><p>Ryou looked up, eyes closed and smiling, already apologizing as if on reflex. “Oh, I’m sorry. Wasn’t looking where I was going.”</p><p>“Some things never change,” said the stranger, and that was all it took for Ryou’s blood to run cold. It was a feeling he wasn’t unfamiliar with -- that creeping, crawling dread in his veins that pulled time to a halt and made the world stop. Made his world <em> end. </em></p><p>Because it was his own face smiling back at him.</p><p>Ryou gaped at the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. He didn’t know how long he sat there in shock, uncaring who saw him or what was going on in the world at that moment except for what was happening between the two of them. Still, he blinked once, twice, almost certain that in a moment the Spirit would be gone and this would be some kind of glitch in the system or figment of his imagination.</p><p>It wasn’t. He even had a name designated; where Ryou was “Ryou Bakura” (because Kaiba “encouraged” use of the same name his players dueled with in the real world), the figure in front of him was “Yami Bakura”. As though they were family -- long lost brothers, maybe, or cousins. As though they had any kind of familiar, or even friendly, bond.</p><p>Finally Ryou regained his composure, and summoned up as much anger as he could stand to hold. Admittedly it wasn’t much, but it was more than back then, when he’d dealt with Shadow Magic on a near-weekly basis and had worn the Millennium Ring regularly. The same Millennium Ring that hung around “Yami Bakura”’s neck, as though it belonged there.</p><p>“What are <em> you </em> doing here?”</p><p>“I could ask you the same thing,” Yami Bakura said, eyes bright in amusement. “Fancy running into me here, hm?”</p><p>“Very funny.” Ryou rolled his eyes as he got up from the ground, taking care to keep Bakura in his sight at all times. Another advantage to Duel Links: he didn’t have to brush dirt and debris off himself, because there was none. His clothes were still clean, even after landing on the worn, dirt-stained path. “You’re supposed to be… gone.”</p><p>“I’m supposed to be a lot of things. Like you.” Bakura grinned at him. It was as unsettling now as it had been back then, seeing Ryou’s own face twist into such a devious expression like looking in a funhouse mirror. “But I enjoy defying expectations, as you very well know, Ryou.”</p><p>Ryou almost fell over again, shock settling in his nerves differently than before as a wry smile lit up his face. A nervous giggle escaped him, his double regarding him with a look of suspicion at this sudden change in demeanor.</p><p>“What’s so funny?”</p><p>“You can’t be him.” Ryou shook his head, the ghost of a smile on his lips and all the dread and fear he had been plagued with buried under a mountain of confidence. “I’m certain you’re not. Nice try.”</p><p>“What makes you think that?” Bakura crossed his arms. “Of course I’m -- “</p><p>“A fake. An NPC, I suspect. Kaiba got all the surface-level details right, but there’s things about ‘you’ and me that he couldn’t have known. The Spirit never called me by name; I was only <em> yadonushi. </em>”</p><p>“‘Host’. How quaint.” The fake Bakura idly combed a hand through his pale hair. The more Ryou studied -- now that he knew what to look for -- the more he noticed was wrong. Where Ryou had grown more into himself, had cut his hair, had <em> aged </em>, the fake was still the same kid he had been not so long ago in high school. Bakura’s chin and his eyes were sharper than the real thing, maybe to make him seem more intimidating in a way that technology couldn’t quite replicate. </p><p>Bakura regarded Ryou with an unamused look. “Yes, I am an NPC. Don’t seem so proud of yourself. If anyone could’ve caught on of course it’s <em> you.</em>”</p><p>“You’re… aware you’re not real?”</p><p>“One of the few who is.” Bakura flashed him a coy smile. “His royal highness Seto Kaiba made me as clever as the real thing, and that means it wasn’t hard to figure out who I am and who I’m not. Other than a few, minute details, he did a good job; there are things I ‘remember’ that he wasn’t a part of, like Monster World. He did his research.”</p><p>“You know about Monster World?” Ryou sucked in a breath. “He must’ve heard about it from Yugi, then… Wait, you mean there are <em> other </em>NPCs like you?”</p><p>“Of course. I assume Kaiba wanted to have all the Battle City finalists ‘available’ to duel.” Bakura gestured between two buildings, where in an alley, Ryou could see a figure with familiar star-shaped hair engaged in a duel with a kid. “I assume he got permission -- surely even a newbie would know the difference between facing the <em> real </em>King of Games and Kaiba’s cheap replica.”</p><p>“But he didn’t ask me.” Something foul settled hard in the pit of Ryou’s stomach. If Kaiba had, would Ryou have agreed? Would he have helped? Kaiba could study footage for his appearance, his voice, his deck -- but he didn’t <em> know </em> Bakura like Ryou did. No one did.</p><p>Had his friends known about this? The look he’d thought Anzu and Yugi exchanged but had written off -- had they seen Bakura in Duel Links? Did <em> they </em> know that he was a fake?</p><p>Did they still trust Ryou?</p><p>Bakura must have understood the thoughts lurking behind Ryou’s gaze, because he said: “I don’t see the point in being here when I can’t <em> do </em> anything. The most I can get away with is beating the pants off little kids who don’t understand the game yet. I can’t even swear.”</p><p>“You can’t or you’re not allowed?”</p><p>Bakura opened his mouth and a beep replaced whatever he had been able to say. He scoffed, tossing his head aside and letting his white hair flutter in the wind. “Real fun place, this world is.”</p><p>“That’s the idea. It’s like every duel is a Shadow Game, except no one gets a penalty. Games are <em> supposed </em>to be fun.”</p><p>“What’s the point in that?” Bakura threw his hands in the air. “I can’t even change my deck too much, because I’m based on a memory. Wouldn’t want me to be <em> inaccurate </em> while farming for Dark Necrofear drops.”</p><p>For all the fake’s faults, underneath there was still the Bakura that Ryou remembered -- the one who got spiteful like a child at little things. Someone who had fought tooth and nail for what he wanted, ready to face the very gods themselves to bring the world down with him. What was it like for him to exist in a world where even the building blocks of his being interfered with who he was as a person? In that sense, it wasn’t hard to realize how Bakura had recognized he was a fake. His goals were impossible, but he still felt a compulsion to work towards them.</p><p>“I’ll make you a deal.” If this had been the real thing, the real Bakura, Ryou wouldn’t have bothered. He knew what came from deals with the devil -- but this fake was more like a low-level demon than Lucifer himself. “I’ll help you fill in what’s missing.”</p><p>“Oh? What’s in it for you?”</p><p>Ryou’s hand landed against the deck he carried on his belt. “You help me find what comes next.”</p>
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